Many of you are probably used to the frequent phone solicitations from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee due to your involvement in party politics or your previous donations. And many of you, no doubt, use these phone calls as an opportunity to air your opinions about current Senatorial practices...
...especially the Filibuster.
Just some background here. My wife and I have both contributed frequently to the Democratic Party in the past. We have gone to our Senators' offices to let them know that there were some constituents in their state (Kansas) who did not support the Republican Party's regressive plans for America.
We have also canvassed for voters and traveled to Iowa many, many times in the last election to knock on doors and help persuade Democrats to actually vote. Our argument for doing so, to every voter on whose porch we stood, was that electing Democrats was crucial for the survival of this country's future. In short we did those things that the President and the Party exhorted us to do.
Like many of you we had high hopes that the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, would finally respond to the overwhelming evidence before him that the Senate's Republicans were Hell-bent on shutting down democratic governance via the unprincipled and un-ending use of the Filibuster. For a short time we thought he would act. Well, you all know how that turned out.
So, as many on this site have suggested, we are no longer willing to pour money into a general fund like the DSCC that works to elect people who vote against what we believe. No amount of balancing our interests against those with which we disagree will any longer result in contributions to the DSCC. The math no longer works for us. We will pick our fights carefully and give accordingly. Elizabeth Warren yes, Heidi Heitkamp no.
So, today when the DSCC called, and my wife answered the phone, she was ready with her response. You all know what those calls are like. Sometimes you get earnest volunteers, sometimes you get the boiler room. This call was the latter. After politely interrupting the hard sell to explain her position with force and vigor the call was unceremoniously terminated. Apparently simple politeness to "the base" ends when the spigot is shut off. But this story is as old as the world. And the only thing that will eventually get the DSCC's attention is to stop funding them. That too is a very old story.
Give to your candidates. Work hard for them. Throw yourself passionately into the fray. But ignore those who are Democrats only in name.